#6 - Sermon
On Partaking of the Divine Nature
2nd Peter 1:2-4
July 22, 2007
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
A. Please turn with me to 2nd Peter 1:1 and take out your sermon notes as well.
B. By now we should have a pretty good handle on the basics of 2nd Peter – the “big picture” so to speak. We should be able to tell a friend or neighbor that this epistle is about 3 “H’s”: holiness, heresy, and hope. Chapter one (1) is a call to holiness and a warning against false conversion; chapter two (2) is a warning against the heresy of false teachers. And chapter three (3) is confirms the hope every Christian has: Jesus came once and He is coming again.
The rope that ties the letter together, or if you liked fractions in elementary school, the common denominator of the letter is the theme of “certainty.” Chapter 1: be certain of our foundations; chapter two (2) – be certain that false teachers will be in the church; and chapter three (3) – be certain that Jesus Christ is coming again.
C. Verse 1 is a charge to be certain we have the same precious faith that Peter and the other apostles had – a charge to be certain we are truly saved. Read 1:1.
1. And this morning, in verses 2-4 we come to an incredibly profound statement and truth about the Christian life: the admonition that we are to be partakers of the divine nature – to share in, or be a companion to, God’s nature. Read 1:2-4.
2. This is incredible: Peter’s charge is for Christians to share in the very nature of God and if we don’t understand what he means here a statement like this can choke us. But choking on a piece of steak doesn’t mean we don’t need it or that it’s not good for us. The thing to do is to take a knife and cut the steak into more edible sizes and that’s what I want to do this morning. We need to get our arms around the incredible truth of what Peter is saying here and one of the first things we can to do to cut partaking in the divine nature down into bite size morsels is to understand that the idea of God’s children being like Him is a proposition that cuts through all of God’s Word.
Write this down: God want us to be like Him. God’s will for us is to be like Him. When people look at His children God’s desire is that they manifest or reflect Him. Years ago a senior saint told me: John, if you really want to know someone – watch their children. And I really didn’t quite understand this statement until I became a parent: every parent lives with the knowledge that their children, character and all, reflects them. And God wants the lost people in this world to see Him in His children. The truth is, to the extent that I manifest God’s divine nature, is extent to which my life convicts the world of its sin and corruption, and attracts men and women to Jesus Christ.
Pray.
D. God is holy; God is love; He’s merciful; He’s just; He’s patient – these are part of His nature and when it comes to cutting the challenge to reflect God’s image down into bite size pieces one of the first things we need to do is to understand that what Peter says here is not new: before the Fall God’s original plan for man was for him to partake in His divine nature – and it hasn’t changed.
In Gen. 1:26 God said: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” What’s this mean? God originally created man to reflect His image – meaning to partake of His divine nature.
Lev. 19:2: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” What’s this mean? God is holy and He desires His children to also be holy – to partake of His holiness.
Turn with me to Rom. 8:28. We can go to passage after passage after passage in God’s Word and we will find cutting straight through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is that God’s plan for His children was and always will be for them to reflect His image – and sin corrupted that plan – but it didn’t change it.
Read Rom. 8:28-29. God’s plan for Christians is to be in the process of becoming like Christ – which is synonymous with the process of being a partaker of the divine nature. Let’s go back to 2nd Peter.
E. In verse 1 Peter wants us to be certain of our foundation – to be certain we have the precious faith, but then he tells us that the Christian life doesn’t stop there: faith without works is dead – just having the precious faith in verse 1 is not valid unless we go from there. There’s more and it goes something like this: verse 1 tells us that believing and responding to the Gospel results in obtaining the faith. Verse 2: tells us that the result of having this faith means we now have grace and peace – but the Christian life doesn’t stop there either: grace and peace must be multiplied in our lives; and then verses 3-4 tell us how this process works out so that we might become partakers of the divine nature and live out the precious faith God has so graciously given us.
How does a Christian share in God’s divine nature – what steps must we take to fulfill God’s will for our lives and become partakers of the divine nature?
I. First of all, partaking of the divine nature requires that grace and peace be multiplied in our lives. See 1:2.
Read 1:1-2. In verse 1 God does His part in saving us, in giving us the precious Christian faith, and in verse 2 we begin to respond by seeking more and more knowledge of Him. Partaking of the divine nature requires that grace and peace be in the process of multiplying, or growing, in the life of a Christian.
A. Grace and peace are two (2) foundational attributes of the Christian life, meaning if someone doesn’t have them they don’t have the precious Christian faith. No grace and peace equals no faith.
1. In Rom. 5:1-2 the apostle Paul says it this way: “Therefore, having been justified by faith (saved – in other words as a result of being saved), we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand...” And there are countless other verses that say the same thing about grace and peace.
2. This is foundational: God gives me salvation, I obtain it, by grace through faith, and then from that starting point salvation is designed to multiply grace upon grace and peace upon peace.
B. And then Peter tells us how to it’s done: how grace and peace are multiplied in the life of a believer – and it’s through more and more knowledge of God and of Christ. Re-read 2a.
1. Now I want to walk us through this because this is huge. I’ve said before that the word “knowledge” is a key word in this letter – Peter uses it at least fifteen (15) times. In our day the word “knowledge” has a number of different meanings. For example: we can say we “know” someone in a general way…or we can say we “really know someone” in a fuller and more intimate way. “Knowing” a neighbor that we hardly ever see is dramatically different than “knowing” someone we’ve been married to for 40 years.
2. However, in Peter’s day they used different words that described different levels of “knowing.” For example they might have said they “gnosis” that neighbor (know him in a general kind of way), but they “epignosis” a spouse. Let’s say those two (2) words together: gnosis… epignosis.
“Epignosis” was the word they used to describe a deeper, more precise, or a fuller knowledge of something – and that’s the word Peter uses here in verses 2 and 3: “epignosis.” This is why what Peter says here is so huge and so important to understand: grace and peace cannot be multiplied by a casual, passing, or part-time “knowledge” of God – it won’t happen. The foundational attributes of grace and peace can only be multiplied by more and more “epignosis.” In the same way that there is literally a life and death difference between knowing about airplanes “gnosis,” and knowing how to fly them “epignosis” this difference in our knowledge of God is the difference between stagnancy in the life of a Christian and partaking of the divine nature; it’s the difference between thinking, believing, or hoping we are going to heaven and knowing for certain we are going to heaven – epignosis is the difference between eternity in hell or eternity in heaven.
3. Don’t miss this: it’s one thing to have a general knowledge, a “gnosis” of God or of Jesus – but it’s quite another to have a growing and deepening “epignosis” of Him.
C. How do we become partakers of the divine nature? Take this to the bank because it will earn way more interest than an IRA: the precious faith given to us by God in verse 1 will not grow in grace and peace unless I am diligent to grow in my “epignosis” of God and of Jesus. In the same way that it is impossible for a garden to grow without daily watering and care, it is impossible for a Christian to grow without daily adding to their knowledge of God and Christ – try watering a tomato plant once a week and see what happens. Partaking of the divine nature requires that grace and peace be multiplied in our lives and this only happens as our knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ grows.
II. Secondly, partaking of the divine nature requires divine power. See 1:3-4.
How do we apprehend, seize, or take for our own this incredible truth – how can we partake or reflect God’s holiness, His love, mercy, patience, kindness, and His countless other communicable attributes? Read 1:3-4. I hope we see this: what Peter says here about partaking of the divine nature is utterly amazing. Once we see what Peter is saying here is should have at least the same effect as seeing El Capitan for the first time – or a giant Sequoia. Unpacking what Peter says in verses 3-4 could be compared to opening a treasure chest and not knowing which treasure to take out first.
A. Before we look at this treasure there is something that we first need to be certain of – underline this in your mind. When Peter says we are to partake of the divine nature he is not saying that a Christian somehow becomes a “god” – little “g.”
1. Read 2:1. All false religions start with a false teacher – with a teacher or leader that does one of two (2) things.
They either question the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word by asking the same basic question Satan asked Eve in the garden: “did God really say,” or secondly, they twist the meaning of God’s Word. This is the “m – o” of false teachers by which all false religions start or the means by which destructive heresies come into the church.
2. Peter is not saying that we can become “gods” in any way shape or form, even though many branches of the “New Age” movement teach exactly this – the path to their form of salvation and fulfillment is the process whereby a follower of their teaching discovers the “god” in them. Kenneth Copeland, a popular false teacher in the “name it – claim it movement,” in referring to verse 4 says this, and I quote: “Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods (little “g”)? Indeed – we are a class of gods.”
3. Heresy, heresy, heresy – false teaching and twisting God’s Word: this interpretation of what Peter says here twists the grammar, the meaning of the words, and violates what the rest of Scripture clearly teaches about God. Peter is not saying that partaking of the divine nature makes us a “god,” and any other interpretation is a lie straight from the pit of hell – and yet I can give you example after example after example of this kind of twisting. That is not what Peter is saying.
B. So what is he saying? What does he mean? It’s what we have already said: Peter is defining the true Christian life – if we are going to guard ourselves against false teachers we have to be certain of our foundation. Someone that has the precious faith of verse 1 is in the ongoing process of growing – of becoming more and more like God – of partaking or sharing in the divine nature.
1. Look at the end of verse 4. A true Christian is someone who has escaped and left the corruption of the world; they have turned away from sin; and they are now embarked in the life long process of becoming more and more like Christ – more and more like God. God loves, so they love; God is holy, so they are holy; God is merciful so they are to be merciful; and so on.
2. Peter is simply taking us back to God’s original plan in Gen. 1:26. A true child of God is in the process of becoming the image of God – of reflecting more and more in the divine communicable attributes of God.
C. And then Peter tells us how – how mere humans, sinners saved by grace out of the corruption of the world become partakers of the divine nature.
And guess what? If I am truly saved the “how” has been handled. All things that pertain to life and godliness, all things that pertain to becoming a partaker of the divine nature, have already been given to me. Read 1:3a.
Everything we need to apprehend, appropriate and manifest the divine nature has already been given to us and all we have to do is learn it – God does the rest. It comes right back to the critical importance of “epignosis” – of being diligent and disciplined to grow in our knowledge of God.
1. The word “divine” in verse 3 and verse 4 is another form of the word “God.” So Peter is simply saying that God has given anything and everything that we will need to live out the Christian life – it’s all there like an inheritance. A rich aunt may have left us a million dollars in their will, but if we don’t know it – it means nothing. And that’s why “epignosis” is so critical in the life of a Christian. God’s power is there, we just have to learn how to plug into it and the only way that happens is by being diligent to get to know God better and better.
a. How many of us would like a million dollars? If we got a letter saying that in order to claim our aunt’s inheritance we needed to call a certain lawyer; that we would need a certified copy of our birth certificate; that we would need to prove that we lived in such and such a place for a certain length of time – wouldn’t we be diligent to do it? Then why do so many professing Christians struggle to read their Bibles – go to church – spend time in prayer – and do the very things they need to do to increase their knowledge of God and access this divine power? Re-read verse 3.
b. All things, everything we need to partake of the divine nature have been given to us, that’s the first thing we need to “epignosis.”
2. And the second thing Peter tells us we need to “epignosis” in order to begin becoming a partaker of the divine nature are what he refers to as “exceedingly great and precious promises.” Read 1:3-4.
a. Becoming a partaker of the divine nature requires knowledge. It requires that I see my true nature apart from Christ and then from there, as grace and peace are multiplied in my life through my diligent in seeking more knowledge of God, comes the knowledge of God’s power that has been given to me, and from there comes learning about countless incredible promises that are also mine – and this how we become partakers of the divine nature.
b. Understand that there are so many promises in God’s Word we’d be here all day trying to list them. Show books. A Christian is promised forgiveness; justification; sanctification; they are promised a listening ear when they pray; comfort in times of heartache; eternal life; a mansion; the promise that one day there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more illness – this isn’t even scratching the surface. We are promised the Holy Spirit; direction for every area of our life; strength when we are weak; and when it comes to partaking of the divine nature – we are promised the power to do it. John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” Phil. 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In order to reflect God’s love, God’s holiness, His goodness, His mercy and so on we need power – it’s not something we can do.
Turn with me to Eph. 1:15-21. For me it’s pretty easy to choke on the idea of reflecting the image of God – of loving like He loves; of being patient like He’s patient; of being holy like He’s holy, but notice how the apostle Paul echoes what Peter says. Read 1:15-21.
Conclusion
A. Flip back to 2nd Peter 1:10. A Christian is one who is a partaker of the divine nature – one who is growing in apprehending and appropriating the communicable attributes of God Himself. He or she is in the process of becoming more and more like Christ. A Christian doesn’t stop at the precious faith. They don’t stop at believing their sins are forgiven – they go on from there and are in the process of becoming partakers of the divine nature. They are in the process of becoming a new person; a new creation; a new being; and are reflecting more and more the attributes and character of God.
B. What’s the filet mignon that Peter serves us in verses 2-4? Here it is: do we know God? Are we any different than we were before we were given the precious faith? Can we honestly say that we are partakers of the divine nature – that our life reflects God? Peter says this is the way to make our calling and election certain; it’s the way to make certain we are a Christian; it’s the way to properly equip ourselves to guard ourselves and the church against false teachers. It’s like I said right at the beginning: the truth is, to the extent that I manifest God’s divine nature, is extent to which my life convicts the world of its sin and corruption, and attracts men and women to Jesus Christ our Lord.
